The future belongs to artificial intelligence (AI), said the Chinese Go prodigy Ke Jie after he was defeated by the Google-owned AlphaGo computer program.

The world’s number one Go player gave an exclusive interview to CGTN on Sunday, a day after his defeat in the town of Wuzhen, east China’s Zhejiang Province.

GO champ Ke Jie talks about his match with Google's AI

The future belongs to artificial intelligence (AI), said the Chinese Go prodigy Ke Jie after he was defeated by the Google-owned AlphaGo computer program.
The world's number one Go player gave an exclusive interview to CGTN on Sunday, a day after his defeat in the town of Wuzhen, east China's Zhejiang Province.

Helpless to reverse a 3-0 loss to the algorithm developed by Google’s AlphaGo, Ke was reduced to tears at the end of the final game.

“I should say that I felt desperate. Because at the beginning I knew it would be very difficult to win, only that I didn’t expect to lose so uninterestingly. I feel a bit of regret,” said Ke.

EXPLAINER: The lead up to Ke Jie’s match with AlphaGo

When asked if he would like to consider a rematch against AlphaGo, Ke said that he will leave that opportunity to other players.

“I have had enough of this. I’m sure there are a bunch of people who want to challenge AlphaGo, but not me. I’ve had enough. AlphGo’s vision reaches into the universe, while what we can see is just a small pond not far away from our home. So let it take care of the universe and I will be satisfied just fishing in my small pond,” said the 19-year-old prodigy.

Ke said that his plan was to exploit the perceived weakness of AlphaGo’s steady plays. However, what surprised him was that the program had evolved to tackle the problem.

“Actually, I had thought that AI was not good at capturing race; I thought it was good at proceeding in smoother situations, like taking over the game smoothly. We talked about capturing race before the match; if you want to beat AlphaGo, the only opportunity would be to play a capturing race with it. But it has evolved to a new level that allows it to handle complicated situations with ease, or with a capability far beyond that of a human,” he said.
The top-ranked Go player also said that AI can go beyond the game to help humanity in various ways.

“AI’s future is immeasurable. I think apart from the game of Go, it can also handle a lot of issues in other areas. So I really think the future belongs to AI. I especially hope that it can be applied to healthcare to save people who are suffering from disease,” he said.

As for the future of the game, Ke hopes that more people will enjoy Go for its own sake.